Top 5 Holiday Toxins Our friends over at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, stay busy this time of year and the five items below account for the majority of their holiday calls. In order, the top holiday toxins are: 1. CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE This tasty treat is hands-down the winner for most calls at Christmas (Halloween and Valentine's Day don't even come close). Why? Usually it's because of wrapped chocolate gifts left under the tree. And often a pet has shredded wrapping paper to get to the treat, thus destroying the chance to learn exactly what ingredients have been ingested. Also, with the growing popularity of higher cocoa content, it takes even less candy to get our four-legged friends into a world of trouble. To test your treatment strategy, check out this chocolate ingestion case study. 2. TREE PRESERVATIVES What is generally seen is mild gastrointestinal upset. However, if there is bacterial contamination, the potential for gastrointestinal upset can be more significant. Treatment plan? Dilute, monitor at home and move on. Read about some more holiday ingestion worries. 3. POINSETTIAS Poinsettias are primarily... Read More